Into Time and Space
by Jaxin88
Summary: The Doctor and Rose are together again—but when they visit Cardiff, the Rift might change that. Sequel to Nature of the Wolf.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Here's the new one! This is a sequel to Nature of the Wolf, set sometime before Shades of Blue. I'll be updating a chapter a day.**

Chapter 1

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The heavy synth of "Mr. Roboto" woke Rose from a rare nap, the tinny sound piercing in the quiet hum of their bedroom. She reached for her mobile, flipping it open as the Doctor groaned and pulled a pillow over his face. She shoved her hair away from her face, scowling as the lights slowly shifted on. "What the _hell_ did you do to my phone, Mickey?"

She could almost hear his grin as he replied. "_I don't know what you're talkin' about._"

"Right, so when I saw you fiddlin' with my mobile last week when we popped by, that had nothin' to do with waking up to bad 80's music."

"_What, you don't like that song?_"

"Bein' woken by a one-hit wonder hair band isn't my idea of a good mornin', no."

"_One hit wonder? They've got plenty of hits, Rose! Styx is classic!"_

The Doctor tossed the pillow away from his face, sitting up to rest his chin on Rose's bare shoulder. "Questionable taste in music aside, Mickey, why are you calling?"

There was a snort from the other end. _"Somebody's cranky. Good morning to you, too, Doctor."_

Rose clenched her eyes shut as she and the Doctor spoke in unison. "Mickey."

"_Fine, fine." _The humor faded from his voice as he continued. _"UNIT's been picking up some readings from Cardiff that've got them worried, an' I don't blame 'em. It looks like the Rift's been goin' nuts."_

The Doctor frowned. "Don't they have somebody monitoring it there?"

"_The Brigadier General says to leave it to Torchwood Three, but, well, I remembered what happened last time we were out there. Thought it might be better if you checked it out."_

Rose bit her lip, remembering charming smiles and blue eyes that always sparkled with mischief. The Doctor, on the other hand, groaned. "Of _course_ it would be Torchwood. The blighters probably bollocksed it up themselves."

Rose scowled and smacked his chest, and he yelped. Mickey chuckled. _"That'd better have been because of you, Rose."_

She tightened her lips, glaring at the Doctor. "'Course it was."

"_Good. Listen, I've got to go back to work—my boss doesn't know that I've called you guys in, but I figured it'd be up your alley. Let me know if I can do anything, yeah?_"

"We will, Mickey. Thanks for calling—say hi to Martha for me, will you?"

"_Will do. Talk to you later, babe._"

"Later." She rang off and got out of bed, ignoring the Doctor's pout.

He winced and rubbed his temples, watching her as she fixed her mobile. "Blimey, I forgot what it was like around unshielded Time Lords. Are you really that mad, Rose?"

Rose straightened, facing the wall. Her mental walls slammed up, and the Doctor gave a soft cry and stumbled out of bed, reaching out to grasp her shoulder with a long-fingered hand. "Rose, don't. Be angry if you want, but let me feel you again—_please_."

She looked over her shoulder at him, meeting his anguished brown eyes. His skin had paled, and tension pulled the angles of his face tight. She relented, sliding down her barriers, and bit her lip as relief flooded his features. He closed his eyes gratefully, pulling her into him. "I'm sorry, Rose. My mouth runs ahead of me sometimes."

She sighed and leaned against his bare chest, tracing meandering patterns across the cool musculature of his ribs. "If it weren't for Torchwood, I wouldn't be here right now." He opened his mouth, and she laid a finger across his lips. "I worked for them for four years, Doctor, and I did my job _well_. You seemed so proud of me when I told you I was working for them, back on Bad Wolf Bay. Was that just a lie?"

He let out his breath in a quiet exhale and leaned down to rest his forehead against her own. "No, of course it wasn't. What you've done, Rose... " He chuckled softly. "Well, you've pretty much eradicated the word 'impossible' from my vocabulary, for a start."

She snorted. "Good. You're way too fond of it, anyway."

"Some of my past incarnations would be so disappointed in me." He sobered. "I just... because of them, I _lost _you."

She reached up and cupped his cheek, guiding his gaze down to hers. "An' also because of them, you've got me again—an' this time, I really _can _stay with you forever."

He smiled suddenly, his eyes dark and bright. "You know, I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing that."

"Good, 'cause I can't imagine I'll get tired of saying it." She leaned into him for a moment, relishing the comfort of his arms and his mind wrapped around hers. Being telepathic had taken some getting used to, but she found she loved it—no matter where she was, she could feel the Doctor with her, could sense his emotions as clearly as if she were watching his face. She smiled into his chest. "Fancy a trip to Cardiff?" The Doctor tightened his grip and rested his cheek against her hair, nuzzling the golden strands. A ripple of soft warmth spread over her, the now-familiar mental touch of the Doctor's desire. She leaned back to catch his eye, grinning mischievously. "Or did you have another suggestion?"

He waggled his eyebrows at her, sweeping her off her feet and depositing her on their bed, following her onto the still bouncing mattress as he braced himself above her. His grin was positively wicked. "Now, what gives you that idea?"

She fought for a thoughtful expression, arching her hips just _so_ to brush up against him. He gasped, and she grinned. "Might've had a small hint."

His head reared up from where he'd been nuzzling her throat, his eyes wide and offended. "_Small?_"

Rose used his distraction to her advantage, rolling them with a sudden twist of her hips. He blinked up at her, looking adorably ruffled against the ivory sheets. She leaned down and dropped a kiss at the end of his long nose. "All right, a very impressive, manly-sized hint."

He huffed, but his attempt at looking offended was rather ruined by the eagerness with which he found her lips with his own.

_Cardiff,_ she decided as the Doctor slid his hand down her stomach, _could wait._

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	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

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The TARDIS landed with a jolt, throwing the Doctor and Rose off their feet as she settled. Rose giggled from underneath the Doctor, his torso weighing down her legs. "Is it mad that I missed this?"

He scrambled to his feet, offering her a hand up. "What, traveling in the TARDIS? Who wouldn't?"

She straightened her jumper. "No, the landings. Over there, the zeppelins flew so smoothly—it just felt _wrong_ to me, landing so easily."

He shrugged into his coat, turning so she could help him and grinning madly at her. "What's a spot of travel without the threat of a few bruises, eh?"

Rose giggled as she followed him outside. "I should've known you'd say that." The doors clicked shut behind her, and she took the Doctor's hand as they strolled out of the small alley onto an empty street. She glanced up at the street sign and bumped the Doctor's shoulder with her own. "So what's on Sage Street, then?"

He frowned at his sonic screwdriver. "The TARDIS was giving me some odd readings earlier, and they seem to center... _here_." He pulled them to a stop in front of an abandoned dance hall, the once-grand facade covered in posters and graffiti. He frowned at the shiny black Torchwood SUV parked out front. "Looks like we're not the only ones interested. Honestly, with the logo on the side? Could they be any _less_ subtle?"

Rose frowned and stepped closer, peering in the darkened windows. "'S empty, and there's still equipment in there. Wherever they are, it's probably not far."

The Doctor flipped the sonic screwdriver in the air, catching it easily. "Well, then. Guess we'd better be careful, hadn't we?"

"Of course." The Doctor aimed his screwdriver at the lock, but Rose caught his arm. "Wait, look. It's not even fully latched."

The door swung open at her gentle push, and they glanced at each other. The Doctor sniffed. "Well, I can't say much for their security efforts."

Rose sighed as they stepped into the dimly lit hall. "Are you going to be doing this all afternoon?"

"Doing what?"

"Ragging on Torchwood. Mickey's team has worked with them before over here, an' he says they're completely different than the group in London."

"Oh, _Mickey _says." He felt her annoyance flash through their link, and he winced. "I mean, well, if Mickey says..."

"Nice try." Rose said dryly and went up the stairs, looking around at the chipped red paint of the walls and the dilapidated trim. "Y'know, this place must've been gorgeous in its heyday. It's a shame it's so beat up now." The Doctor had paused on the landing, his head cocked. Rose frowned. "Doctor, what is it?"

He raised a hand. "Can you hear that, Rose?"

The familiar strains of Glenn Miller were wafting through the air, and a slow, incredulous smile broke over her face. "That was our first dance."

He strolled up to her, catching her around the waist and spinning her into an easy waltz. "So it was." He frowned. "Doesn't explain why we're hearing it now, though. I mean, I don't see an orchestra, do you?"

"Maybe somebody's playing it on a stereo?"

He buzzed the sonic screwdriver at the walls. "If they are, it's not in here. The electricity's not working." He frowned and scratched at the back of his neck, bumping his collar with the sonic. "Not to mention, something around here's throwing my senses off. Don't you feel it?"

Rose bit her lip and concentrated on the new senses tingling on the edge of her mind, focusing on them alone as she shut out the warmth of the Doctor's arms and the creak of the floorboards. "Now that you mention it, I do. It's like when there's a stray hair sittin' on your arm, yeah?"

The Doctor snickered. "My old teachers would be horrified to hear their grand and mighty Time Lord senses described that way, but that's not a bad description." He paused, looking surprised at himself.

Rose blinked. Even if she'd been a Time Lord for months now _(Honestly Rose, it's just Time Lords—we didn't bother with any of those useless gender binaries humans are so obsessed with),_ he rarely, if ever, mentioned his past.

The Doctor cleared his throat and let her go, his head raised like a bloodhound on a scent. "Rose, do you feel that?"

She sighed and pushed her frustrations aside, strolling over to the stairwell at the back of the room. "Feel what?"

"That, that..." He scrubbed a hand through his hair. "It's like pinpricks on my skin. Something very wrong was here, not too long ago."

Rose stopped in landing of the stairwell, staring at the colorful graffiti on the wall. "Doctor? I think I might've found it." There, in glaring neon colors, were the words _BAD WOLF_. She turned around. "Doctor?"

But he wasn't there. The decaying hall from 2007 was gone, replaced by a shining, crowded party.

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	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

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Rose gaped and fell back against the wall, clutching her temples. The Time Lord senses that she was still learning to use were screaming at her, her skin crawling with the knowledge that she had fallen through time. Something was seriously wrong here. She pressed a hand against her mouth. _Doctor, when I get back, I'm never doubting your sonic screwdriver again._ There was only silence, and her eyes widened. _Doctor?_

His comforting presence was hidden just out of her reach, muffled by the temporal disturbance, but at least he was still there. She pulled out her Superphone and groaned as she remembered. The Doctor didn't carry a mobile, and the TARDIS' phone had broken down last week—or at least, the Doctor claimed it had broken down. She had a sneaking suspicion that he'd scavenged the parts for one of his late-night projects.

"Miss? Are you all right?" She looked up into the worried eyes of a young captain.

She smiled gratefully. "'M fine, thanks. Just a bit of a headache, that's all."

"Here, let's get you something to drink." He led her up the stairs and through the dance floor, her tight jeans and jumper causing a rustle of scandalized looks as they went. The captain didn't seem to mind, escorting her courteously through the throng of colorfully dressed dancers. An Asian woman in a purple dress was dancing with a grinning soldier near the center, watching the people around her nervously. She caught sight of Rose and her eyes widened.

Rose and the captain stepped up to the bar, slipping into an opening behind a brunette man in a greatcoat. Her escort looked at her and smiled. "What'll you have?"

"Just water's fine, really. Thank you." She closed her eyes, rubbing at her temples again. The headache had gotten worse—it felt like her entire brain was throbbing.

The brunette stiffened as Rose spoke, spinning around in a whirl of wool. "Rose!"

Her jaw dropped. "_Jack?_ Oh my god, Jack!" She threw herself into his open arms, clinging to his familiar warmth. "I thought I'd never see you again! Oh god, I've missed you so much." She burst into tears, burying her face in the soft grey wool of his coat.

He held her just as tightly, rocking her in his arms. "Oh, sweetheart, I've got you. Gods, I've missed you." He guided her face up to his, kissing her tears away. "Don't cry, sweetheart. Don't cry."

"Jack?" Rose looked to the side and found the Asian woman from earlier staring at them, her dark eyes wide.

Jack grinned against Rose's hair, his arms wrapped firmly around her. "Tosh, I'd like you to meet one of my oldest and dearest friends, Rose Tyler. Rosie, this is Tosh, one of the most brilliant people I've ever met—and coming from me, that's saying something."

Tosh flushed happily, glancing around the bar. They'd caused a bit of a stir, and Rose bit her lip. "Jack? 'S there somewhere we can go to talk? I want to hear what you've been up to." She impulsively hugged him tightly again. "It's so good to see you."

He grinned down at her and released her from the bear hug, but kept his arm around her waist as he led her down the stairs. "Sure we can, Rosie. What're you doing here? Where's the Doctor?"

Rose sighed as he led her down a back passageway to an empty room in the basement. The cool seemed to ease her headache a little, but her head was still throbbing. She looked around the room, checking for strangers. "Still back in 2007, as far as I can tell. Mickey'd wanted us to check up on the Rift, but the Doctor got sidetracked by the readings from this place. We were tryin' to figure out what was going on when I got zapped back here."

Jack frowned. "2007? But that's..." He stared intensely at her. "Rose, have you ever heard of Canary Wharf?"

She let out her breath on a sigh, closing her eyes. "'Course I have. That's when I lost the Doctor."

"Wait, you've been through that already?"

"Yeah, an' now I'm back. Jack, what is it?"

He'd paled to the color of chalk, his blue eyes wide. "Rose, you didn't... you didn't die?"

Tosh gaped at Rose as she shook her head slowly. "No, Jack. Torchwood had opened a gap between universes, you see, and the Daleks and the Cybermen were comin' through—the Doctor and I hauled 'em back in, but I fell." She looked down at the dirty floor. "I spent four years over in a parallel universe, tryin' to get back. My mum's still over there, with Pete and my baby brother."

Jacks' hand curled over hers, his hands human-warm. "Oh, Rose. I thought you were dead." He swallowed heavily. "I work for Torchwood, and when the casualty list came out... well, there you were." Tosh had seated herself next to Jack and was watching them carefully.

"The Doctor put me on there, after I was gone." She swallowed heavily. "He doesn't like to talk about it much."

"I don't blame him." He tugged her into his arms again. "Oh, Rosie, you have no idea how happy I am right now."

"Think I might, actually. Jack, how are you here? The Doctor said you were off rebuilding the Earth in 200,100; that you had to be there for history's sake. He said we couldn't go back for you, or else it'd cause a paradox." Tosh's eyes had widened and she seemed to be holding herself as stiffly as possible, hoping that she wouldn't be noticed. Rose's eyebrows drew together.

He smiled sadly at her. "Oh, I spent my time there—cleaned up the Dalek's mess, got some infrastructure started. That was a long time ago, though."

Rose frowned and brushed a hand over his face, ignoring the throbbing in her skull. "But how? You barely look any older than when we said goodbye."

He sighed and leaned back against the wall, the crate he was sitting on creaking heavily. "Looks can be deceiving, Rose, as you should very well know. I saw the Doc's new look, by the way." He grinned at her, waggling his eyebrows. _"Very_ foxy._"_

She giggled and smacked his shoulder. "You're incorrigible." She sighed and rested her head against his shoulder. "I just wish he'd carry a mobile, the daft man. He broke the TARDIS phone last week, so I've got no way to contact him."

Jack stilled. "Wait, do you have your Superphone on you?"

She arched an eyebrow at him. "That's what I was talkin' about, Jack."

He jumped up, laughing happily. "Oh, but that's perfect!" He noticed that Rose had paled again, and sat down carefully. "Whoa, there. You okay, Rosie?"

"Just a headache—my head's been splitting ever since I arrived."

Tosh frowned thoughtfully. "That's odd—Jack and I barely even noticed, when we passed through." Jack jumped and spun, and Tosh smiled wryly. "Yes, I'm still here."

He winced. "Sorry, Tosh. Rose, can I use your Superphone?"

She pulled it out of her jeans, handing it over. Tosh scooted closer to her as Jack stepped away to make some calls. "I'm sorry about your head—I've got some Aspirin, if you think that would help."

Rose bit her lip, laughing a little. "Sorry, no can do—I'm kind of newly allergic. Thanks for offerin', though."

"Oh. Well, sorry about that." Tosh frowned as Jack spoke on the phone. "How can he get reception? I tried earlier, and there was absolutely no service."

Rose smiled. "Let's just say my phone's a bit... specialized."

Jack rang off and joined them again, running a hand through his hair. "Well, I left a message for Gwen, Ianto, and Owen—nobody's picking up their phones. I guess we'll just have to wait for them to call back." He began to pace in front of them, watching Rose carefully. "In the meantime, though, you can tell me why I felt two heartbeats when I hugged you earlier."

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	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

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"Doctor? I think I might've found it." Rose's voice drifted up from the stairwell as the Doctor walked towards the front, all his senses open.

He sighed. "Just a minute, Rose." The hairs on the back of his manly, hairy hand were standing up straight, and he shifted his shoulders. Something very weird was going on here—and not just the fact that Rose had been quiet for too long after he just brushed her off like that. He paused. "Rose?"

There was no reply.

The Doctor sprinted back to the stairwell where he'd heard her last, looking everywhere for a flash of blonde. "Rose, where are you? This isn't funny." He closed his eyes and concentrated. _Rose? _He could barely feel her, adrift in time and space. _Rose, darling, please. Can you hear me? _Some sort of temporal interference blocked him from connecting with her, and he tugged at his hair wildly. "Oh, this is not good. This is very, very not good."

"I'd have to agree with you." The Doctor spun around and came face-to-barrel with a small pistol. The dark-haired Welshwoman who held it frowned at him. "Why don't you start by telling me what you did to Jack and Tosh?"

The Doctor stared. "Gwyneth?"

She blinked, and the gun wavered. "It's just Gwen—nobody but my Gran calls me Gwyneth. Who _are_ you?"

"I'm the Doctor, and I'm looking for my... friend." He spun and headed back to the stairwell where Rose had disappeared.

Gwen growled and hurried after him. "Excuse me! This gun's not just for decoration, you know!"

He glanced over his shoulder as he trotted down the stairs. "Oh, I'm sure it's not. I just don't happen to care." He looked at the wall, and his jaw dropped as Gwen rounded the top of the staircase. He raised a shaking hand to touch the graffiti, the two words that would forever be emblazoned on his mind. "Bad Wolf."

"Bad Wolf? What's that mean?"

He spun to face her, his eyes wide. "Gwyneth—Gwen, sorry—earlier, you said one of your team was named Jack. What's his last name?"

Gwen still had her gun trained on the Doctor, and she pursed her lips. "D'you really think I'm going to tell you that?"

He grabbed a fistful of hair, not caring that he probably looked deranged. "Is his name Jack Harkness?"

Her jaw tightened. "What d'you want with Jack?"

He reached out and touched the graffiti again. "If this means what I think it means, then I'm guessing I'll find Rose wherever Jack is." Gwen's phone began to ring, but she was still staring at the Doctor. He bounced impatiently on the balls of his feet. "Aren't you going to answer that?"

She slid her gun back in her holster and crossed her arms. "You never answered my question. What d'you want with Jack?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "At the moment, I want to find him. Look, if you're not going to use your phone, can I?"

Gwen stared as her phone stopped ringing. "What?"

"It's just, the TARDIS phone is broken, and I haven't got a mobile. If I could ring Rose, though, odds are Jack's with her."

She pressed a hand to her headset and listened for a moment, her jaw tightening. "Jack's in 1941 at the moment, apparently. I doubt they've got much service back then."

"1941? Brilliant! Molto bene!" He paused. "D'you have the exact date?"

She raised a hand suddenly, still listening. The wariness in her expression had faded, replaced by surprise. She glanced over at the Doctor, her eyes wide, before dialing a number. After a moment, she turned away to speak. "Jack? Gwen here. I got your message. There's a man here, tall with brown hair—" She listened for a moment before turning to face the Doctor. "What's your name?"

He sighed impatiently. "The Doctor."

"All right, fine. Don't get your pants in a twist." She listened to her headset for a moment before sighing and nodding. "Fine, I'll put you on speaker phone."

A cheerful male voice rang out in the quiet of the dance hall. "_Doc? That you?_"

The Doctor shook his head, an irrepressible smile stretching over his face. "Jack Harkness. Trust you to get mixed up in something like this."

"_Oi, he's no more involved than I am, Doctor._" He laughed at Rose's annoyed voice, feeling like his grin was about to split his face in two.

"Well, I always did say you were jeopardy-friendly."

"_Who's the one who tripped on the bed sheets this mornin'?_"

"_Ooh, this sounds like a story I need to hear._"

The Doctor flushed as he rubbed his bottom in remembered pain. "Stop it, Jack." He cleared his throat and looked at Gwen, who was watching him with an expression somewhere between confusion and amusement. It wasn't exactly unfamiliar to him. "Listen, can you stay on the line? If I use the TARDIS to lock onto your location, I'll be there in a minute."

Gwen frowned. "And how'll you do that? In case you missed it, Doctor, they're stuck in _1941_."

He grinned and headed off towards the front door. "Yes, and soon I'll be there to get them un-stuck."

Jack's voice rang out, persuasive and amused. "_Gwen, just go with him. I guarantee you'll never forget it._"

She sighed as she jogged off after the Doctor, following him out of the building and into a nearby alley. "Comin' from you, Jack, that's not really reassuring. …A police box? What on Earth?" Moments later, Gwen gasped. "It's… it's bigger on the inside."

Rose giggled from the other end of the call. "_Pay up, Jack._"

"_Oh, fine._"

The Doctor grinned and closed the door, hurrying up to the console. "Well, then. Shall we go?"

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	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

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Rose stood up quickly as the TARDIS materialized, stumbling a little as she did so. The headache from earlier hadn't gone away, although it had faded somewhat as she waited with Tosh and Jack. She'd have to ask the Doctor about it—the humans seemed to be completely unaffected by their time jumps, but her head was killing her.

He poked his head out, grinning widely. "Goin' my way, doll?" Rose smiled weakly at him, and he stepped out quickly. "Rose? What's wrong—oh." He'd stopped mid-sentence, staring at Jack. "Ah. I see."

Jack frowned. "What do you see? Doctor, what is it?"

The Doctor swallowed. "Maybe it'd be best to have this discussion inside the TARDIS. All aboard, then."

They followed him in, and Tosh's jaw dropped. Gwen smiled weakly at her from the jump seat. "I know."

The TARDIS' doors slammed shut, and she dematerialized with a jerk. The Doctor reached out to pet the console, his eyes glued to the Time Rotor.

Rose frowned. The TARDIS' presence in her mind was always a soothing one, a golden force as boundless and ancient as the sea. Today, though—today, she was upset, her confusion and fear crashing against Rose's mind. She stumbled back against the doors, her face pale. The Doctor was by her side in a moment. "Rose?"

"I'll be alright in a mo'… just, just give me some time."

He laid a hand against the wall, concentrating fiercely. "Stop it, you."

Rose's eyes opened in surprise. "What?"

He blinked and focused on her. "No, sorry, Rose, not you. The TARDIS. She's a little unhappy at the moment."

"Yeah, I noticed."

Tosh sat next to Gwen, her eyes wide. "So, we're sitting inside a living, temperamental time machine."

Jack frowned. "She's not normally this bad." He stroked the coral absentmindedly. "What's wrong, gorgeous?"

They jerked sideways, and the Doctor had to brace Rose's body with his own to keep her from falling over. He sighed. "I think you'd better keep your hands off her, Jack. At least until she's calmed down a bit."

Jack backed up abruptly, his eyes wide. "What do you mean… oh." He looked around him at the heaving Time Lord ship he was on, the pale and shivering newly Time Lord Rose, and the Doctor, who was refusing to meet his eyes. His lips tightened. "It's me, isn't it? It's because of me."

Gwen blinked. "What d'you mean?"

Jack's shoulders slumped. "God, Fate's a bitch. I spent all these years waiting, and you can't even stand to be around me."

Rose peered around the Doctor's shoulder, still leaning against him. "Jack, what are you talking about?"

The Doctor sighed and closed his eyes. "He's a fact, Rose. A living paradox. That's why your head hurts so much around him, why the TARDIS is so upset."

She blinked up at him, tears filling her eyes. "But he's _Jack_. That's all that matters."

"Try telling that to the TARDIS."

She closed her eyes, focusing everything she had on the golden storm in her mind. _Jack. Her savior, her friend. Her family. _She focused on the memories she had of travelling with him, the hours he and the Doctor had spent cleaning and repairing the TARDIS. _You know him. He's Jack. Still Jack, always Jack. Your Jack. Our Jack._

Slowly, the roiling presence calmed. Rose kept concentrating, sending images of Jack and love and comfort and familiarity. After a while—it could've been minutes or days, as far as Rose could tell—she blinked her eyes open, looking up into the Doctor's worried face. She realized with a jolt that she was laid out on the floor. "Where's Jack?"

"He's showing Gwen and Tosh around. I think he wanted to give you some space." The Doctor sat next to her, carefully avoiding looking her in the eyes. "You know, I didn't mean for you to be quite so literal."

Rose's eyes filled with tears as she pushed herself into a sitting position, resting against the wall. "Will it always hurt to be around him?"

The Doctor sighed and wrapped a long arm around her, resting his cheek against her hair. "I don't know. We might be able to get used to it after a while, but it's a part of him, now."

They were silent, staring at the slow grind of the Time Rotor. Rose closed her eyes. "I did that to him, didn't I?"

The Doctor jerked exaggeratedly. "What? What gives you that idea?"

Rose sighed and tapped his forehead. "You're forgettin' I can tell when you're lying now. 'S just… he wasn't like that before the Bad Wolf, I'd swear it. But now he's somethin' else, an' I'm the one who did that to him." She began to cry then, short, gasping sobs. "What did I _do?_"

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, holding her close. "You saved his life, Rose. It just... turned out to be a bit more permanent than you planned."

"So that's what happened." They looked up and found Jack staring at them from the doorway. "For all this time, I've wondered—it was you, Rose?"

"Jack, I'm so sorry. I didn't know, I swear." She closed her eyes and leaned her face into her knees. "I never meant to hurt you."

"Oh, Rose." In seconds he was by her side, pulling her into his arms. "I'm not angry. You just wanted to protect me. Without you, I'd be dead a thousand times over." The Doctor raised an eyebrow at Jack as Rose began to cry even harder at that, and Jack winced. "It's okay, sweetheart."

Gwen and Tosh had joined them, and the Doctor looked up at them and sighed. "Shall we get back to Cardiff, then? Temporal messes to clean up, fussy Rifts to monitor." He watched Jack and Rose and shook his head a little. "Jack, can I get the coordinates for your base?"

"Sure." Jack took off his vortex manipulator and tossed it to him, still holding Rose.

Tosh's eyes widened. "But Jack, you never take that off!"

He shot her an irritated glance. "Well, I just did."

Gwen scowled at him as the TARDIS landed. "Jack, don't be rude."

He sighed. "Right, right. You feeling better, Rosie?"

She winced and stood shakily. "I should be askin' you that, y'know. Sorry about all that."

"It's okay, Rose."

She caught his hand as he turned to head up to the console. "Jack. I am sorry."

He squeezed her hand. "Just... give me some time, Rose. I've been waiting centuries to get some answers—I still need some time to digest, y'know?"

She flushed and stared at the grating beneath their feet, abashed. "Right, yeah. Of course. Sorry."

The Doctor glanced up as Gwen and Tosh hurried out the door into the Hub. "Rose, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Jack pressed a kiss to Rose's forehead and followed his team out the door, forcing himself to sound jovial. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, kids—which is pretty much nothing, actually, so never mind."

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	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

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The TARDIS calmed as Jack headed out the door, and soon there was nothing but silence between them. The Doctor cleared his throat. "Come here, Rose."

She bit her lip and flew into his arms, speaking into the familiar soft wool of his suit. "Can we fix it? Fix him?"

He sighed into her hair. "I'm afraid not, Rose, and I think you know that."

She closed her eyes and focused on Jack's timeline, burning painfully bright and strong throughout the ages. "All those years, all those millennia..." She looked up at the Doctor. "Will he ever get a chance to rest?"

"I don't know." She let out a shuddering sigh, and he tightened his arms around her. "You couldn't have known what would happen, Rose."

"Yeah, an' now Jack's paying the price."

He caught her chin with his fingers. "Stop it, Rose. What's past is past, and in this case, we can't change it."

Her lips quirked halfheartedly. "Pot, kettle, Doctor?" At his flinch, she closed her eyes. "'M sorry, that was uncalled for. I'm all over the place today."

The Doctor's lips turned up in a faint smile. "Sometimes literally." He took a deep breath. "But enough about Jack for the moment. Rose, when you were displaced... I couldn't reach you, couldn't contact you."

"Yeah, I know. If you'd just get a mobile like I keep tellin' you to, we wouldn't have these problems." She raised her eyebrows. "An' maybe put the copper conduit back in the TARDIS' phone. She doesn't like it when you pick an' choose for your projects, you know."

He continued as if he hadn't heard the last part. "That's one option, yes. I was thinking of something a bit more permanent."

"What d'you mean?"

He tugged her over to the jump seat and sat facing her, his long legs tangled with hers. "There was an old practice on Gallifrey, a _very _old one, dating back to the days before the Looms. It was considered rather antiquated by the time I was at the Academy, but a few examples would crop up now and then."

He paused, watching her, and Rose's eyebrows drew together. "A few examples of what?"

The Doctor looked down and took her hand in his, running his fingers absently against her skin. Whatever he was considering, it made him more nervous than she'd ever felt him before. She caught his fingers with her thumb, trapping them against her hand. "Doctor? Whatever it is, you can tell me."

"It's, well... you've watched Star Trek, right? You definitely bothered me about Spock enough."

She gave him a tongue-touched grin. "Yeah, I did. It was the best thing on telly when Mum was working at the salon."

"It's a bit like a mind meld, but somewhat more... permanent."

Her eyebrows shot up. "What, so we'd be sharin' our thoughts all the time? An' people thought that was a _good_ idea?"

"No no no no, not all the time." He grimaced. "Rassilon, no. That's a bit much. It would only be at the initiation of the link, and then by conscious decision afterwards. But if we were ever separated again, I'd be able to reach you, no matter where, no matter when. We'd be bonded to each other. Permanently."

Rose swallowed. "So… is this, like, you proposin' to me?"

He laughed and ran a hand through his hair. "A bond is a bit more permanent than marriage, Rose. If we were to do this, there'd be no divorce. It'd be you and me, for the rest of our lives." He stood up and began pacing, his hands flexing. "I understand if it's a bit much to take in, and if you need some time to think it over. It's a big decision. It's just, well, it's you and me and it's a bit of a daft idea, I know, so maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it—" his ramble faded and then stopped as Rose reached out and caught his hand, pulling him to a stop. His eyes were huge in the aquamarine glow of the TARDIS.

She smiled up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. "Yes."

He emptied his lungs in a sudden exhale and sat next to her, taking her hands. "Really? I wasn't just babbling, Rose—this is permanent. For as long as we live, you'll be stuck with me."

She smiled as she reached up to brush his hair out of his eyes. "Stuck with you? That's not so bad."

His eyes kindled, and he sat beside her again. "Yeah?"

"Yes." Rose laughed and leaned her forehead against his shoulder. "Of course it's yes. What do I have to do to convince you that I'm never gonna leave you?"

He frowned thoughtfully. "Well, never leaving might do it."

"You're _completely_ daft, and I love you." His eyes flickered down to her lips before he leaned down to catch them in a kiss, his hands tracing over her shoulders to her waist. Rose shifted onto his lap, reveling in the overwhelming love and joy that sang through their connection.

There was a cough from the doorway, and they broke apart quickly. The Doctor's glasses were sitting crookedly on his face, his hair even messier than usual, and Rose felt a quick flush of pride. Jack was leaning against the door frame, a smug grin on his face. "So. Talking, huh?"

"We—" the Doctor paused after he squeaked, clearing his throat, and continued in his regular voice. "We talked!"

"Y'know, the Favrukians on Quasalvos talk like that." Jack sighed nostalgically. "God, I love that planet."

Rose stilled after she scooted off the Doctor's lap, frowning in concentration. "Jack? Come over here."

His blue eyes brightened. "I've been told I have a wonderful mouth for… talking."

She rolled her eyes. "Sorry, that's_ not_ what I'm thinkin' about."

"Well, damn." He stood by her, watching her curiously.

Rose closed her eyes as she focused on him, a wide grin breaking over her face. "Hey, Jack?"

"Yeah?"

She opened her eyes and stared up at him. "I think my headache's goin' away."

He stilled. "You're not just saying that?"

"'M not gonna say I can't feel you anymore, 'cause I can. But it doesn't hurt anymore." Jack whooped and caught her up in his arms, murmuring thanks against her hair as he swung her.

The Doctor sniffed. "Well, Time Lord physiology. We can adapt to pretty much anything."

Rose rolled her eyes as she released Jack, cuffing the Doctor lightly on the shoulder. "Yeah, an' it was Time Lord physiology that nearly knocked me on my arse as soon as one of my best friends showed up."

Jack had sobered, and now he cleared his throat. "Fun as it is to listen to you two bicker, we could use your help. The Rift's been acting up for the past few weeks, and none of our instruments have given us any ideas as to why."

The Doctor raised his eyebrow. "Well, that's not really a surprise."

Jack shot him an exasperated look. "Why don't you come see what we have available before you start writing us off, hm?"

ΘΣ


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

ΘΣ

Rose watched the Doctor exclaim over Tosh's instruments, peering intently at them through his thick-framed specs. He was nearly vibrating with enthusiasm as he pored over her Rift monitoring program. Torchwood Three was nothing like Rose was used to—Pete's Torchwood in parallel London had been a gleaming Rube Goldberg machine of productivity and professionalism. This Torchwood was still rough around the edges, from the scavenged equipment to the dysfunctional staff. Dr. Harper seemed almost angry that there was no need to open the Rift, though Ianto and Gwen were palpably relieved to have Jack and Tosh back without incident.

They all seemed uncomfortable with the police box in the corner. Ianto had simply murmured a quiet, "My word," when she and the Doctor came out, but Owen had stomped off to his lab, muttering something about aliens and mysterious bastards (she was fairly certain he meant Jack, though she knew the Doctor wasn't always the best at first impressions). Rose frowned thoughtfully as she watched Jack interact with his team. Though he was still cracking jokes and winking outrageously at the Doctor, there was a distance to him that she'd never seen before, and his team treated him with a sort of wary respect. She closed her eyes and concentrated on his timeline, tracing it back to his birth. She bit her lip. Two hundred and fifty-seven years old. Of course he wasn't the Jack she'd once known; that Jack had faded away years ago. There was a strength to this Jack that she'd only caught glimpses of before, though. She smiled and moved away from the railing, stepping up next to him. She was looking forward to getting to know the new Jack.

"So, the Doctor and Tosh seem to be workin' well together. Is there anythin' I can do, Jack?"

He turned to her with a smile. "Actually, there is. The rifts keeps spitting out displaced people—we keep track of them as we can, but the cells are getting full, and some of 'em have ended up in police custody. If you could go with Gwen, interviewing them and finding out if there's been a pattern could be useful."

Rose saluted casually. "Aye aye, Captain."

The Doctor frowned and turned away from Tosh's computer, pulling his glasses off and tucking them back in his pocket. "Out there in Cardiff? Jack, we don't know what displaced you earlier. Until we figure out what's going on with the Rift, it might be safest if we all stayed together."

She rolled her eyes. "Doctor, interviewing them might be a way to find out what's wrong with the rift. Besides, it's not like I'll be alone. I'll be with Gwen."

"Yes, the woman who leveled a gun on me before I got her name. _That's_ reassuring."

Gwen narrowed her eyes. "You were babbling to yourself at the scene of the crime, Doctor."

"Crime? What crime? And I do _not_ babble." Both Jack and Rose snorted at that, and the Doctor scowled.

Rose smiled affectionately at him. "I'll be fine, Doctor. Don't worry about me, just concentrate on the Rift."

He started to protest again, and she raised an eyebrow warningly at him. He gave up with a sigh. "Fine. Just… come back soon?"

"I will, Doctor." Rose followed Gwen out the door, sliding into an oh-so-familiar Torchwood SUV.

Gwen cleared her throat. "Is he always that cautious?"

Rose glanced at her and smiled crookedly. "We got split up for a bit there, against both of our wills. I only found my way back to him a few months ago."

The brunette frowned as she wove her way expertly through the traffic. "How awful. How long were you apart, if you don't mind me asking?"

"About four years, on my end. As for the Doctor, I'm not sure, but I think it might've been about one or two." Noting the other woman's confused look, Rose waved her hand. "It's all a bit confusing, yeah? Let's just say I was stuck _really_ far away."

Gwen nodded, though her eyebrows were still knotted. They waited for the light to change, and she spoke again. "So how will this help, d'you think?" At Rose's blank look, she elaborated. "The interviews, I mean."

"Well, it's worth a try, at least. I've been here when the Rift broke open before—it wasn't pretty." She sighed, and a small smile curled the corner of her mouth. "Actually, we were there when the Rift was activated."

Gwen looked over and found Rose watching her intently, her thoughts a hundred years away. She coughed a little as they pulled into the police station parking lot. "Well, good luck on talkin' to them. We've had all sorts of Tosh's translation software running for communication with the anachronisms and aliens, but we haven't been able to make much headway."

Rose grinned. "Oh, don't worry about that. Brilliant as Tosh may be, there's nothin' like the TARDIS."

ΘΣ

The Doctor was pacing by Tosh's workspace, half his mind on the Rift's erratic behavior and half on Rose. He shouldn't have let her go with Gwen. A rough Northern voice snorted with amusement in his mind. _Right, 'cause it's about what we 'let' Rose do. Be glad she can't hear you, pretty boy. I have a feelin' the Tyler slap's hereditary._

He scowled and ran a hand through his hair. He should've at least instigated the ceremony before she left. Oh sure, it took time that they really didn't have, but at least then he'd be able to feel her clearly if she got time-snatched again.

He blinked. The Rift had been spitting people out left and right, but— "Tosh, have there been any other missing persons reports centered around the Ritz dance hall?"

She frowned and began typing quickly, her glasses reflecting the monitor. She stared at the screen, biting her lip. "No, none at all." She leaned back. "Normally when we run into temporal disturbances, they've managed to affect a larger cross-section of the population—this one appeared to be just us. Well, and Rose."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "So these things happen often, do they?"

Tosh flushed and straightened her shoulders, turning her attention back to her computers. "Not as such, no."

_Sloppy. So very sloppy. _The voice was old, and the Doctor winced. He hadn't heard from his first incarnation in a while. _The human girl is making you careless._

_Not so human anymore, remember?_ He realized what he was doing and sighed, leaning against the cool brick wall. Time Lords could take 'arguing with yourself' to a ridiculously literal place. "Be back in a moment, Tosh. I've got to go talk to Jack about something."

He knocked on Jack's doorframe, glancing around the Spartan workspace. Jack looked up from his files with a raised eyebrow. "Toys not good enough for you, Doc?"

"Hmm? No, they're fine. Incredible, considering. You've got a keeper in Tosh, Jack."

"You'll never guess how I found her." He grinned reminiscently. "She'd actually managed to make a working sonic screwdriver, can you believe it? Of course, she made it because some terrorists were holding her mother hostage—nasty situation, that—but still." The Captain's expression softened. "And yeah, I know. I've been lucky. I've got a good team here." He glanced out the window and sighed. "Though they've still got some growing up to do."

A small smile twitched at the corners of the Doctor's mouth. "Sounds familiar."

Jack flushed. "Yeah, well. Did you need something in particular, or can I get back to work?"

"Nah, just thought I'd let you know I'm heading back to the Ritz. Something about that place isn't lining up with the rest of the readings." He sighed. "Really, I should've looked further when we were there before, but I got a bit distracted."

"Doc, Rose vanished in front of you. I think you had a right to be a little distracted."

He scratched the back of his neck. "She technically wasn't in front of me, more behind and to the right."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Just go. Try to be careful, though. I don't really want to tell Rose that you got time-snatched while she was gone."

The Doctor winced. "Yeah, I can't see that going well. Don't worry, though, I'll be fine. Be back in a jiffy." Jack raised an eyebrow, and the Doctor groaned. "Right, I'm never saying that again."

He turned to leave, but Jack called him back—he'd reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a sleek black mobile. "Here, take this at least. That way Rose won't kill me when she gets back."

The Doctor smiled, imaging the brilliance of her eyes and the flush that always rose in her cheeks when she was angry. He was never happy when her wrath was focused on _him_, but Rose Tyler was gorgeous when she was angry. "I'd hate to miss that."

Jack rolled his eyes and went back to work.

ΘΣ


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

ΘΣ

The tall, dark-skinned policeman who'd accompanied Rose and Gwen to containment cleared his throat and stepped up to the door of the cell, slipping his key into the lock. "Here's one of the latest—right nutter, this one. Showed up in some fancy dress costume in the middle of the street and started attacking the people that tried to move her." Rose raised her eyebrows, and Gwen pursed her lips. The policeman glanced between them and sighed, pulling the door open to reveal a woman in a ragged dress, blue paint marking the lines around her eyes. "Right, just yell if you need anything."

He left, muttering under his breath about _bloody Torchwood, always barging in_, and Rose and Gwen shared a glance. Gwen looked slightly embarrassed. "Sorry, the locals aren't all that fond of Torchwood."

Rose gave her a reassuring smile. "'S okay. Not your fault, is it?"

"Doesn't mean it's not bloody annoying, sometimes."

"Yeah, well, 'm not goin' to argue with that. We had a bit of that, back..." Rose cleared her throat. "Back where I used to live." She stepped into the cell, ignoring Gwen's curious look.

The woman looked up and straightened, moving her shoulders back stiffly. She glared at Rose, her blue eyes nearly as bright as her war paint. Rose stepped closer to her cautiously. "Hello. I'm Rose. I'm here to help. What's your name?"

The woman's eyes widened, and some of the tenseness in her shoulders drained away. She watched Rose speculatively for a moment before speaking. "Luigsech, of clan Fhearghus. Of what clan are you, Rose?"

Rose let out a soft breath and smiled crookedly. "I used to be clan Tyler, I s'pose, but the Doctor and I are kind of our own clan now."

Luigsech raised her eyebrows. "This wise man, he has no clan of his own?"

Rose lifted her chin. "He's got me."

"Ah." She stared intently at Rose, her bright blue eyes scanning her from head to toe. Rose ignored the urge to shuffle her well-worn boots. "You have left your clan for love, then?"

Rose closed her eyes, pushing away the memory of Tony's infectious laughter and Jackie's incessant—if well-meaning—scolding. "I have, yeah."

Luigsech nodded suddenly, the ratty curls of her hair bouncing with the movement. "As have I, Rose of no clan. My Arthfael and I are wanderers, roaming lands that offer us no welcome."

Rose sighed. "I know how that goes." She cocked her head to the side and furrowed her eyebrows. "How'd you end up here, then?"

The Celt stiffened again. "I know not what curse was laid upon me that I entered into such a strange and crowded land. I was hunting a deer that was to be our food when the forest left me."

"Did you notice any bright lights, any sounds or movements that weren't usual?"

Luigsech gave her an annoyed glace. "No." She paused and frowned. "Although, there was one thing..."

Rose leaned forward. "Yeah? What was it?"

"A man. A most oddly dressed man, with white hair and cold eyes."

ΘΣ

The Doctor frowned at the TARDIS' monitors. He'd been right to come back—the readings around the Ritz were off the chart. It was no surprise now that Jack, Tosh, and Rose had ended up jumping through time while they were there; it was more surprising that he and Gwen hadn't followed them. The timelines around the Ritz club were unlike any he'd seen before. They were disturbingly reminiscent of Swiss cheese. He huffed, irritated. _This is what happens when amateurs get their hands on time travel._

A blip appeared on the monitor, and the Doctor frowned. That didn't look like an average time traveller—and he was suddenly thankful Rose wasn't around to hear him think that, or else he'd never hear the end of it. She still giggled anytime someone mentioned sunrises, thanks to a rather disastrous date he'd taken her on a few months ago. It wasn't like it was his fault that the TARDIS had landed them a few hundred years out of date, or that the adorably fluffy natives happened to have a fondness for bipedal flesh... or that he'd somehow lost his trousers while they were escaping from the shoulder-height prison.

The TARDIS sparked near his fingers, and he yelped and stuck them in his mouth. "Oh, come off it. You know you were feeling queasy that day." She hummed indignantly, and he scowled. "Well, is it my fault you decided to put us down in a war zone the night before?"

The pitch changed and he jumped back from the console as a small plume of sparks shot up towards him. "Fine, I'll go. Just don't cause any trouble."

He could've sworn the TARDIS was laughing at him as he left.

The Doctor poked open the doors of the dance hall, glaring around at the chipping paint and the faded posters. Honestly, he was getting sick of the place. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and adjusted the setting, scanning for misplaced temporal resonances—quite Spock, if he did say so himself. Of course, that thought would probably be a bit more satisfying if Rose were there to hear it, and he scowled to himself and followed the buzzing of the screwdriver.

ΘΣ

Rose shut the door to the cell behind her, leaving the Altesian to pace on his webbed feet. Gwen watched the rotund alien curiously as his ears shifted from red to purple and back again.

Rose glanced at her and then the Altesian, and sent her a half-hearted smile. "Personalized perception filter, these ones. They look human to anyone not used to aliens." She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Whoever this white-haired man is, he's at the heart of this. Seein' him is the one thing they've all got in common."

Gwen gave her a hard stare. "How are you doing that?"

She frowned. "Doing what?"

"Talking to them. It's not just translation, whatever it is. You're speaking their language."

Rose smiled crookedly. "'S one of the perks of travelling on the TARDIS long-term. I love it now, but it creeped me right out when I first noticed it."

"It's just..." Rose raised her eyebrows enquiringly, and Gwen flushed and finished. "It's so alien."

"Dunno if you noticed Owen's not-all-that-subtle scan, Gwen, but I'm not exactly human lately."

Gwen tightened her jaw and looked away. "Well, we have to verify people are who they say they are." She frowned. "So what are you?"

Rose looked around them at the station warily and lowered her voice. "Somethin' else."

"Oh, god—Jack's changed, too, and he used to travel with you two." Gwen curled her arms around herself protectively, her eyes widening. "Does that happen to everyone who travels in that police box?"

"What? No! Jack an' I, we're the exceptions, not the rule—you should meet my friends Mickey and Martha. They travelled with us for a bit, an' they're as human as can be." Gwen still looked unsettled, and Rose rested a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "Seriously, you've got nothin' to worry about."

Gwen nodded, shifting away from her hand. "Right, well. Three more interviews to go, hey?"

Rose sighed. "Right. Might as well get this over with."

ΘΣ

The Doctor swung the open the door at the end of the hallway, wincing a little at the echoing creak. The rest of the place was as abandoned as it seemed from the outside, but this—this was different. This office was quite clearly lived in, computers and papers scattered over every surface and a pristine newspaper advertising the dance hall's opening hanging in a glass frame on the wall.

He frowned and peered closer at the paper. It was in perfect condition—_too_ perfect. The Doctor glanced behind him and lifted the frame off the wall, opening it quickly to get a look at the paper itself. He ducked his head and gave it a long lick, smacking his mouth as he analyzed the flavors. _Judging by the cellulose and titanium oxide in the paper, this isn't a reprint_. He made a face and wiped his tongue on his sleeve. _And that's definitely a trace of lead in the ink. This is authentic._

The Doctor frowned. "The question is, how did he manage to get a brand-new copy of a 70-something year old paper?"

No one answered him, and he sighed and leaned the frame against the wall, running his hand through his hair. Someone around here was playing with time, but not in any way he'd seen before (and he'd seen _a lot)_. He scowled. Normally, finding something he'd never seen before was a cause of pleasure—joy, even. But normally Rose didn't get time-snatched out from under his nose. His eyes darkened with anger. Whoever was doing this had to be stopped.

He stepped away from the wall and began to pace, and a slight shadow on the wall caught his attention. He frowned and moved closer, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and running a quick scan. There was something back there, just _there_—the panelling was just barely off-kilter, and the Doctor soniced it open and stepped through.

His eyes narrowed as he took in the narrow office space, cluttered with an odd mix of futuristic tech and heavy file cabinets. He stepped closer to the touch-screen monitor hanging on the wall and brushed a hand against it, waking it from hibernation. _Password protection, of course. Sonic protection? Not so much._ He smiled grimly and set to work.

ΘΣ

Rose glanced at Gwen as they left the lieutenant's office and bit her lip. The policewoman was looking wary again, and Rose couldn't really blame her—after all, Rose just negotiated for all of the Rift-displaced people (and she smiled at the memory of a Northern accented voice correcting her assumption of 'people') to be delivered to Torchwood so the Doctor could help them go home. He _might_ object to the TARDIS being used as an intergalactic ferrying service, but Rose was fairly certain his compassion would be stronger than his indignation.

She tightened her hands into fists. They felt empty without his. It was surprising how much she missed him, considering she'd seen him only a few hours ago—she could still feel his comforting presence in her mind, of course, but he was busy at the moment, and she didn't want to bother him just so she could have a quick mental cuddle. Since she'd made her way back across the Void (she had a sneaking suspicion the TARDIS knew far more about how she and Mickey were able to get back than She was letting on), neither she nor the Doctor were doing all that well when it came to separation. He was always just around the corner whenever she went looking for him, and she—well, let's just say the Doctor wasn't really able to complain about her wandering off any more.

Rose sighed and tucked her hair behind her ears. They were going to get better. Eventually, she'd stop thinking it was a dream, or that a rampaging space monster would come around the corner and snatch him away from her again. Eventually, he'd feel safe leaving the room when she was still in it, and he'd stop being surprised every time he woke up and saw her beside him (now_ that,_ she'd actually miss). Eventually.

Gwen cleared her throat, and Rose blinked and focused on her. The Welshwoman smiled tentatively. "You all right?"

Rose cracked her a small smile and waved her hand negligently. "Sorry, just some stuff on my mind—I'll be better company get back to base, I swear."

Gwen smiled indulgently. "You mean when you see the Doctor again."

Rose blushed. "Am I really that transparent?"

The dark-haired woman giggled and hefted opened the station's front door. "As glass."

ΘΣ

The Doctor stared at the screen, frozen, as picture after picture of Rose scrolled in front of him. A drawing of Dame Rose Tyler of the Powell Estate, the beloved lines of her face sketched out in rough charcoal by a survivor of the Torchwood Estate debacle (and he still didn't understand how saving the queen's _life_ made him a threat, thank you very much, Queen Vicky). Rose dressed as a librarian in 1913 for a Farringham school photo, his human self caught gazing shamelessly at her. Rose in the background of a photo of the celebration on Florizel Street, swaying with him as the fading sunlight glinted on her golden hair. Rose as a school girl, as a cheerful-looking teenager with an excess of lipgloss on her lips and sparkling confidence in her eyes, as a young woman with a fixed smile and a fading bruise—the Doctor shut the folder with a slide of his finger, pretending he didn't notice that his hand was shaking.

The program minimized silently, revealing what else the keeper of the office had been working on, and he felt his hearts stop their beating. The CCTV footage played silently, tracking Rose as she and Gwen walked out of the police station together, talking and laughing. The computer remained mute as they walked around the corner to where the Torchwood van was parked, as a slender, white-haired man the Doctor had never seen before stepped up to them and held up a Hyspazian energy pulse, as Rose and Gwen crumpled silently to the ground, as the man reached down to grab them and blinked out of existence—and as Rose's comforting presence vanished from the Doctor's mind.

The Doctor made enough noise for both of them as he shouted his helpless rage at the screen and raced out the door, slamming the hidden panel against the wall and nearly tripping on the threadbare carpet as he scrambled to get to the TARDIS.

ΘΣ


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

ΘΣ

Jack glanced up as the TARDIS ground into existence in the Hub, his lips twitching. He didn't think he'd ever get used to the sight, but he'd be happy to test that. It was only the second time in over two hundred years that he'd gotten to see it, after all. He stood and leaned against the door frame, hands in his pockets as the TARDIS' door opened.

The Doctor stormed out, his hair a mess and his eyes wide. "CCTV. Cardiff police station, _now._"

Tosh looked at Jack and frowned, and he nodded and moved forward. The Doctor was almost shaking, pacing around with all the patience of a caged lion. Jack frowned. He'd only seen him like this once before, all barely contained rage and simmering impatience. He swallowed. "Doc? What happened to Rose?"

The Doctor looked up, pinning Jack with nearly-black eyes. "She's gone, Jack. She and Gwen. They were leaving the station when a man I haven't seen before approached them—he had a Hyspazian energy pulse, Jack, and he knows how to shield himself from me. I couldn't get a trace on him."

Tosh had been rewinding the footage to the moment Rose and Gwen disappeared, but when the old man came into view she gasped and raised her hand to her mouth. "But... I know him! We saw him, back in 1941—he was the manager of the Ritz!"

Jack leaned over her shoulder and frowned at the slender man on the paused screenshot, frozen as he lowered his hand to the shimmering metallic instrument in his hand. "Bilis Manger, he said his name was. _Ianto!_"

The Welshman popped his head over the railing, looking down at them. "Yes, sir?"

"I need you to find everything you can about one Bilis Manger, manager and caretaker of the Ritz dance hall. Tosh, you keep working on the Rift calculations. Owen?" The dark-haired doctor stomped up out of his lab, scowling at them. "Help Ianto. And Doctor, you're getting some tea."

Owen's jaw dropped. "_What?_ We've got all the work to do, and you're trottin' off to get a cuppa?"

Jack clenched his teeth together and steered the Doctor into the small kitchen. "Just do your work."

The Doctor was watching him, something hard and foreign in his eyes. "Quite the leader you are, Jack."

"Shut up. You need to take a break before you fall to pieces." Jack shoved him onto a stool and turned on the kettle, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed. "We'll get her back, Doc." He snorted softly, a small smile quirking up the corners of his mouth. "Or she'll get herself back. I've never met anyone as stubborn as Rose Tyler when she puts her mind to it. After all, she got back to you from a parallel universe, didn't she?"

The Doctor sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "She did, yeah—and how she managed that without fracturing the walls of the universe, I have no idea."

Jack pressed a mug of steaming tea into the Doctor's hands. "So don't worry about her. She knows how to take care of herself—always has, from what I've seen."

The Doctor took a long sip before sitting at the small table, setting his mug down to bury his face in his hands. "I can't lose her again, Jack. When I thought I'd lost her before, I... " He dropped his hands and stared up at Jack, his face bleak. "If it weren't for a rather magnificent woman named Donna Noble, I probably wouldn't be here right now."

Jack frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Last Christmas, the draining of the Thames?" Jack nodded slowly, and the Doctor let out a small bark of laughter. "That was me. There was a hive, an entire _race_ hidden down beneath the river, and I drowned them. I listened to the water overwhelm their screams, and if someone hadn't been there to pull me back, I would've gone down with them."

Jack blinked. "But... you could've gotten out." He smiled uneasily. "Otherwise what's the point of the sonic screwdriver?"

The Doctor gave him a even look. "I could have, yes. It doesn't follow that I would have."

Jack slumped down at the table, his eyes wide. "Jesus, Doc."

The Doctor stared down into his mug, swirling the remnants of his tea. "And that's what I am without her. I _need_ her, Jack. She's... she's the reason I can keep going."

Jack picked up his tea and took a swallow, grimacing at the lukewarm temperature. "Dunno how happy Rose would be to hear you talk like that, Doc."

"At the moment, I don't much care."

Jack looked up, his jaw tight. "Well, maybe you should."

There was a knock at the door, and Ianto looked in. "Sir? I think you should see this."

Jack stood hurriedly and the Doctor got to his feet to follow, but Jack shook his head and pushed him back down into his chair. "No, Doc. You should stay in here and finish your tea."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "You think you can tell me what to do?"

"No, but I can ask you." His blue eyes were wide and sympathetic. "You need some time, Doc. Just accept that and relax for a minute. It won't kill you."

The Doctor's jaw tightened. "It might kill her."

"Do you believe in her, Doc?"

He blinked. "What?"

"Rose. Do you believe in her?"

His answer was immediate, instinctual. "Of course I do."

"Then let us work on helping her, and take just a bit of time for yourself. You'll do us more good when you aren't about to fall to pieces."

"I'm not—"

"Yes, you are." Jack gave him a small smile. "And remember, Rose isn't the only one out there. Gwen's missing, too. We're going to find them, and then we're going to take down this son of a bitch."

The Doctor frowned. "Language!"

Jack snorted softly, shaking his head. "Just trust us a little, okay? We're not going to let her down."

The Doctor nodded reluctantly, sitting again as Jack disappeared out of the door. Much as he hated to admit it, his friend was right—he wouldn't be of much use to anyone until he got himself sorted. It had been so easy, so _right_ to announce that he believed in Rose. Now he just had to start acting like it.

He slipped his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and reheated his mug absentmindedly, inhaling the delicate steam that emerged and closing his eyes as he took a sip. There really was nothing like tea, and the Brits were so very good at it—why else would he have adopted this damp little isle? He swallowed and opened his eyes, only to drop the mug with a clatter, the now-hot tea staining his suit.

Rose sat across from him in the seat Jack had vacated, still in the soft pink scoop-neck jumper she'd been wearing this morning. The Doctor raised a trembling hand to touch her, but she didn't look at him, didn't move. She simply stared forward, her bright brown eyes blank and her skin terrifyingly pale. A ribbon of crimson stretched across her neck, blood slowly trickling down in an obscene necklace.

A pained, almost feral noise echoed through the little kitchenette, and the Doctor realized dimly that it was his throat that had made it. He stared, transfixed, at the gruesome image of Rose—_but that's all it was_. He came back to himself with a jolt and threw up his mental barriers, slamming up the walls that had protected him for so many centuries. There had been no touch of warmth from the Rose-image's mind, not even the all-to-familiar fading touch of a dying Time Lord mind. Whoever this Bilis Manger was, he was trying to use Rose to get to the Doctor. A hard-edged smile touched the Doctor's lips. Too bad he'd missed the little mention that Rose was now a Time Lord, too, in his research.

He stood and leaned across to face the lifeless image. "You think you can bluff a Time Lord? You have _no idea_ what you've done. I'm mad enough myself, but I'm not who you should be afraid of. Better get some brick, little piggies. The Bad Wolf is going to huff, and she'll buff, and she'll blow you all away." He spun and left the image in the kitchen, still staring blankly in front of her. "_JACK! _Your shields aren't strong enough. He's here."

Jack turned from the computer, snapping to attention at the change in the Doctor's demeanor. "Well, we'd better make him regret it, won't we?"

The Doctor just smiled.

ΘΣ


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

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Rose woke with a groan, lifting her head from the floor as she blinked her eyes clear. According to her internal clock, she'd been unconscious for twenty-seven minutes. Not that long in the scheme of things, but far too long for her to be comfortable with—she wasn't sure what device the white-haired man had used on her, but it wasn't anything native to the Earth. The Doctor had spent long enough detailing what things would and wouldn't affect her now for her to know _that_, at least.

She pushed herself up from the floor, grimacing at the weakness that weighed down her limbs and the resounding silence in her head. The absence of the Doctor sat in her mind like a phantom limb. She'd have thought she'd be used to being alone in her own head, what with being a human for the first twenty-four years of her life, but the resounding emptiness that filled her now was completely different. She closed her eyes and pushed past the crushing loneliness, trying to ignore the small voice that reminded her that _this_ was what the Doctor had lived with for years, this complete and utter desolation.

Gwen was sprawled across the floor next to her, her neck bent at an uncomfortable angle. Rose sighed and straightened her out, checking her vitals quickly—heartbeat steady, temperature slightly lowered due to unconsciousness, and pupils responsive to the light. She was alive and well, just not waking up. Rose touched her temples gently and closed her eyes, brushing against Gwen's consciousness without pause. She opened her eyes and sighed. Perfectly healthy, but it would take her a while to come back. She was still deep in the trance of whatever instrument had ensnared them, and she wouldn't be waking soon.

Rose stood carefully, stretching out against the aches and pains that had accompanied her crouch. For the first time, she stopped to consider the room they were in. Small, with one window set against the back wall and an oak door leading to the front. They were surrounded by clocks—small, large, and medium; analog or digital; tall, unwieldy grandfather clocks and a small case of pocket watches—this place had them all, and not one of them was moving. Rose frowned and moved around the room, studying one after the other. The hands were almost vibrating in place with the need to move forward, but not a one shifted. She stared out the back window into the alley behind and shivered. A plastic bag was frozen mid-tumble in the air, hovering above the trash.

She spun and ran to the door, yanking it open and running through it—only to stumble to a stop when she nearly tripped over Gwen as she once again entered the room. Wherever they were, it was a closed loop. Rose grimaced and pulled her hair back into a ponytail, pacing back and forth across the floor as she glared at the clocks. Sure, she'd seen _Groundhog Day_, but no one had warned her it could be bloody well _real_. She sighed and sat on the floor next to Gwen, absentmindedly shrugging off her jacket and laying it over the other woman. Considering her life, she really shouldn't be surprised. The Doctor had probably been a consultant.

A small, black and white photo high up on the wall caught her eye as she stood and she stepped closer, stretching up on her tip-toes and wishing she weren't so short. The photograph was remarkably old, a fine spiderweb of cracks spreading out from the deep fold across the center. The subject was still recognizable, though—it was the same man who'd kidnapped them, dressed in a stiff waistcoat and a long, dark overcoat. Faded ink on the back proclaimed him _Bilis Manger_, and Rose frowned. He was standing in front of a small storefront, and something about the scene was eerily familiar...

"I see you've found my little memento." Rose spun to face the white-haired man—Bilis—but he ignored her, continuing. "It's a bit silly to keep it after all this time, I suppose, but nostalgia always was a weakness of mine." His odd, almost feline eyes locked onto hers. "It should look familiar to you as well, you know. After all, what happened was _your_ fault—yours and the Doctor's."

Rose looked pointedly at Gwen, still unconscious on the floor, and raised her chin as she glared at Bilis. "So where's he, then? Whatever problems you've got with us, how 'bout you deal with us and leave the innocent bystanders of it, yeah?"

His lips quirked up as he glanced down at Gwen. "Oh, but she's far from innocent, this one. You should ask her fiance—or maybe you should ask her lover." He waved a hand airily. "Regardless, she'll serve her purpose. She is perhaps less powerful than her ancestress was, but she'll do."

Rose swallowed heavily. "Do for what?"

Why, to open the Rift, my dear! Oh, don't look at me like that—you should be happy! After all, it was _your_ work, opening it in the first place."

"That's not true! I didn't want that, I never did—an' you _can't._" Rose looked back at the photo. Now she knew why it looked so familiar. The little clock shop he was standing so proudly in front of was right next door to the Sneed and Company funeral parlor. "Gwyneth _died_, Mr. Manger. The shop blew up."

He had been absentmindedly looking over the clocks, but after she spoke he spun around, his face contorted with sudden rage. "You think I don't know that, you little fool? I was _there_, that night—my Edmund and I were down in the cellar next door. Somehow I survived, through I didn't know yet why I did. But Edmund, my Edmund—he was not so lucky." He laughed harshly, composing himself carefully. "As if luck had anything to do with it. The Rift saved me that night, and it's been speaking to me ever since. It _screams_ for freedom, and your Doctor will give us all the freedom we crave."

Rose scoffed. "An' what makes you think he would ever do somethin' like that?"

"It's quite simple, really." He leaned forward on the balls of his feet, pressing into Rose's space. She refused to back down. "I kill you." He sighed mockingly. "It's quite a tragic tale, really. The immortal and the simple little human girl he loves. Perhaps I should speed things up—I do so hate prolonged endings."

"So do I." He looked up, startled, as Rose suddenly pressed her fingers to his temples and tore through his mind, dragging him down into unconsciousness. She glared down at his body as he slumped to the floor. "An' I may have been a bit daft, but I was never _simple_." She rolled him over and bit her lip. The Doctor was going to absolutely hate that she'd invaded another being's mind like that, but if it got Gwen out safely then, well, he'd have to deal with it.

Rose glanced around and then dug in his pockets—the clocks in the little room may have been frozen, but she'd heard a small, tell-tale ticking noise ever since he'd first appeared. She made a small noise of triumph as she pulled out his simple gold pocket watch (thankfully, nothing like the Doctor's), and a sudden cacophony filled the air. Countless second hands marched forward, their subtle clicking echoing like a swarm of otherworldly insects. Rose leaned over Gwen and gently pressed her fingers to her forehead, waking her as a trio of pigeons cooed in the alleyway behind them.

_Rose?_

Rose closed her eyes in relief, stepping away from Gwen to sag against the wall. _'M here, Doctor. _

His overwhelming relief flooded through their connection, and she melted into the psychic comfort as Gwen woke slowly. _Thank Rassilon. That's it. The instant I find you, we're starting the bond._

_Y'know, it might be useful for me to actually know what that whole bond thing means. _She paused for a moment. _Also for the creepy bloke who's been manipulating the Rift to be locked up._

There was a sudden spike of cold, bitter rage, and Rose shivered. _He'll be dealt with, Rose._

She frowned, remembering an underground bunker in Utah a few years from now. _Stop it. Whatever you're plannin', just stop_—_it won't do anyone any good._

_The group of refugees who've been dragged away from everything they knew would disagree with you._

Rose tightened her jaw, leaning her head back against the wall. "Yeah, or _you_ would. Which is it, Doctor?"

"What?"

Rose blinked her eyes open, staring into Gwen's confused face. "Sorry, talkin' to myself."

She raised a dark eyebrow. "You call yourself Doctor, then?"

Rose flushed nearly as bright a pink as her namesake. "Right, yeah. We've got this thing, like Bluetooth but smaller—"

"It's something alien, isn't it?"

She closed her mouth with a click and nodded. "Somethin' like that, yeah."

A wind began to whip around them, and Rose stepped closer to Gwen as the TARDIS materialized around them and Bilis' unconscious form. Gwen looked a little green, and as soon as the TARDIS had fully formed around them, Jack wrapped his arms around her. The Doctor was standing by the console, staring forward with a twitch in his jaw.

Owen and Ianto moved to lock Bilis in a pair of Torchwood cuffs, and Rose cleared her throat. "Those won't work on him."

The Torchwood doctor glared at her. "Yeah? Why not?"

"'Cause he'd just disappear right out of 'em." She glanced up at the Doctor, who was still stubbornly not looking at her. _Daft man._

_Oi. I heard that._

_I meant you to._ "It's hard to explain, but he's a kind of mutant. He's been infected with the Rift, an' he can control it—he's like a living Rift manipulator."

Owen's hostility faded, and his eyebrows rose. "How'd that happen?"

"Dunno the particulars, but from what he said, it was 'cause of an accident with the Rift a while ago."

Ianto's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "How long ago is 'a while ago'? We've found records of him dating back for at least a century."

Rose swallowed. "It was in 1869." The Doctor's eyes snapped to hers. _You don't mean... ?_

_I do mean. Turns out more people than Gwyneth an' Sneed were hurt that night._

He turned away from the console to stare down at Bilis, his eyes wide. Jack let Gwen go with a pat on her back and spoke up, his hands in his pockets. "He's been busy around here. He was Margaret the Slitheen's campaign manager, if you'd believe it."

"I do." At Jack's curious look, she sighed. "He was trying to use me to get the Doctor to open the Rift. If he was workin' for Margaret back then, it was prob'ly for the same reason."

Gwen frowned. "What's a Slitheen?"

Jack raised an eyebrow as he glanced at her. "Tell you later. First things first, though, time to deal with this guy."

The Doctor looked up, his gaze still dark. "Agreed." He paced around the console, pulling levers and twisting dials, and Rose stood back against the wall to watch. The TARDIS' familiar thrum buzzed through her bones, and she sighed and leaned back against the wall. _If he tries anything funny, you let me know, alright?_

The TARDIS hummed an agreement, and Rose nodded and slid down to sit against the wall. Bilis Manger was guarded by the Doctor and very nearly the entirety of Torchwood. He wasn't about to get out.

Rose closed her eyes and slept.

ΘΣ


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Just so y**'**all know, this story has deviated from Torchwood canon (AKA Abaddon is never freed), and it'll stay deviated. It's more about poking and prodding at Bilis' characterization.**

Chapter 11

ΘΣ

Rose woke in their bedroom, her hair tussled and her clothes replaced by one of the Doctor's soft cotton shirts. She could still feel the Doctor in the back of her mind, but their connection was dimmed—he was outside the TARDIS, apparently. She sighed and brushed her hair out of her eyes. She was almost glad for that, at the moment. The Doctor was so very strict about telepathy—the invasion of another's mind was the deepest form of violation to him, and she'd torn through Bilis' mind without thinking, almost on instinct. Not that she regretted it, per se (she rather enjoyed not being dead), but she was a little afraid of the primal urge that had told her to attack him.

A thrum of comfort came from the TARDIS, and Rose smiled softly and leaned back against the smooth wooden headboard. She missed her mother fiercely at times and would always regret not getting to see Tony grow up, but the TARDIS was there for her every time she felt she'd suffocate with the regret. After Mickey told her about the walls of the universes being sealed once again, she'd had a sneaking suspicion that the TARDIS was the one who had opened the way for them to come through—the old girl certainly seemed happy enough to see her. Rose had always loved the ship, but her connection to her was so much stronger now. She couldn't imagine what the Doctor had gone through on Krop Tor, thinking he'd never see his oldest friend again.

The hum of the TARDIS brightened, and Rose sat up. The Doctor was home now, and she'd been separated from him enough in the past few days. _Doctor?_

_In the infirmary._

She headed down the hallway, her bare feet chilled against the metal floor. The infirmary door opened silently, and Rose blushed to realize they weren't alone. Owen Harper was leaning back against the wall, a pugnacious expression on his face. Ianto was standing next to Tosh, who was marveling over the variety of instruments in the sterile white room. Gwen and Jack were each standing at the head of a smooth medical bed, on which rested—Rose's hand flew to her mouth. _Doctor, is that_...?

_Bilis Manger as he once was, yes._ A pair of identical men rested about a meter apart, the clothing the only difference that Rose could see. One Bilis was dressed in a soft white shirt and a brocade waistcoat, with tan breeches and a neat pair of short boots. The other, the modern Bilis, was still in his blazer and cravat combination.

_But what about a paradox?_

The Doctor paused in his scan of the machine and gave her a sardonic look. _Thanks for that vote of confidence_. _Really._

She flushed. _I just don't want anything to go wrong._

_Nothing will go wrong. It'll be over in a minute, easy-peasy._ He paused. _Probably shouldn't have said that._

_Gee, d'you think?_ He ignored her and went back to work, and Rose crossed her arms against her chest in the chilly room. _You might've warned me._

_About what?_

She raised an eyebrow and glanced at Owen, who wasn't making much of an effort to hide the fact that he was ogling her legs. The Doctor cleared his throat loudly, and the medic rolled his eyes and focused on him. "Right, so! Due to Jack's retrieval efforts, what we have here is Bilis Manger, pre and post Rift mutation. Thanks to the Kyvalian hospital I bought this at a few centuries ago, I have here a full analysis of their respective genetic structures. With any luck, the TARDIS will be able to devolve him to a point where he is no longer able to create so much mischief."

Tosh frowned. "But evolution is a natural process. Even assuming that you're able to manipulate someone's genetic structure, what's to say you won't destabilize it?"

"Oh, come on! You've got have a bit more faith in the TARDIS. Really, Jack. These people are such cynics." He caught Rose's raised eyebrow and coughed. "But there's no need to worry, really. The mutation itself was a strikingly unnatural process, and so his genetic code should be happy to return to it's natural state."

Jack had turned pale as the Doctor spoke, and he cleared his throat. "Sounds pretty solid. Have you ever used it before?" He was watching the Doctor closely, doubt and hope warring in his eyes.

The Doctor looked down, fiddling with the dials on the machine. "No, I haven't. Seen the results before, though. Good thing this is the sort of mutation that can be dialed back—some just can't be changed."

Jack looked like he'd been punched, and Rose couldn't help the small whimper she made as she watched him. He met her eyes and smiled, a little bittersweetly. "I'm okay, Rosie."

The Doctor spoke up again, activating the process and then stepping back, rubbing his hands together. "Right! That's that, then. He should be done cooking in a few hours—in the meantime, let's go have a look at the Rift, shall we?"

Rose stepped back as they passed her, pressing a hand to Jack's as he walked by. He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, and she sighed. _I'm off to get changed, Doctor. Be out in a minute._

_Right. _He gave her a small smile and wrapped her in his arms. _Don't be too long._

ΘΣ

Jack stood at the top of the Altolusso building, the wind whipping his greatcoat behind him. The Torchwood team was doing fine on their own—when he'd left, the Doctor was explaining the intricacies of the Rift manipulator to Ianto and Tosh, while Owen pretended he wasn't listening. Hopefully they'd at least be better prepared when the Doctor and Rose left.

"Bit of a Batman fixation, eh, Jack?"

Jack startled, hastily stabilizing himself as he spun to face the Doctor. "Jesus, Doc! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

The Time Lord raised his eyebrows. "You'd survive, you know."

Jack tightened his jaw. "Yeah, but it's not exactly fun to experience. Or what, did you have a fun time when you last regenerated?"

The Doctor winced. "Right, sorry about that. I have a tendency to be a bit rude this time around." He stared out at Cardiff, his eyes soft. "And I died saving Rose, so it was worth it."

Jack's shoulders slumped, and he let out a half-hearted chuckle. "Can't disagree there. After all, I've been in the same boat."

"I never said thank you."

Jack's eyebrows drew together. "What?"

The Doctor turned to him, looking guilty and sincere in equal measures. "Thank you. For so much, Jack. You were a true friend, and I left you."

He sighed. "You were dying, Doc. And besides, I've lived long enough to know that grudges can only hold me back."

"D'you want to come with?"

Jack blinked. "What?"

"Do you want to come with us? Rose and I, Team TARDIS?" A slow, filthy smile edged across Jack's face, and the Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes. "Not like _that_, you pervert."

"Damn it." Jack looked at him then, really looked, and something like hope changed his voice. "Well, I've got centuries to work on you two."

The Doctor couldn't help the blinding grin that he gave Jack. "Doubt it'll do that much good, but you're welcome to try." He cleared his throat, looking back at the city. "For as long as we live, Jack, you'll have us as friends. And Time Lords can live for a _very _long time."

Jack smiled softly. "Good to know. And I appreciate the offer, Doc, I really do, but I need to be here right now."

He hugged the Doctor suddenly, the two of them teetering on the building ledge, and laughed as the Doctor fussed about heights and mad Time Agents. Jack stepped back and looked out again, and the Doctor joined him. They were silent for a long moment, watching the intricate clockwork mechanism of the city moving around them. The Doctor turned to Jack suddenly, looking nervous. "You've had some psychic training, haven't you?"

"Some, yeah. I won't claim to be prolific, but I know the basics. Why?"

The Doctor swallowed heavily. "Well, there's this ceremony that I asked Rose to do with me, and we'd need someone to act as the bonder."

Jack's eyes widened. "Wait, are you asking me to officiate at your wedding?"

"If you don't want to—" The Doctor was interrupted by a bear hug, and he braced his Converse-clad feet heavily on the scaffolding.

"Are you kidding? Of _course_ I want to!" He cupped the Doctor's cheek and gave him a gentle kiss. "I can't think of two people who deserve to be happy more than you two, I really can't."

The Doctor blinked, wiping his mouth off. "Good to know—Rose'll be thrilled." He paused. "Just so you know, it won't be like an average human wedding. Neither of us is human anymore, and Rose doesn't want something like that if her family's not there."

Jack swallowed. "Right. Can't say I blame her. So, when is this utterly alien not-wedding?"

The Doctor smiled. "Dunno, really. Whenever we want it, I guess. In the meantime, your team should have a better handle on the Rift, now. Oh, and they aren't Weevils, they're Salkaphians. We could get them out of your hair, if you want."

Jack chuckled. "Might want to ask Rose about that, Doc."

He blinked. "Why?"

Jack just grinned. "Well, that's her problem."

"What's her problem?" Jack ignored him, and the Doctor scowled. "Oh, fine. Bilis should be done by now, if you wanted to check on him. Owen was planning on moving him to the cells."

Jack raised his eyebrows and hurried off the roof.

ΘΣ


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! I got caught in a rather annoying pit of Writer's Block (like the Molasses Swamp, but thankfully not as sticky).**

Chapter 12

ΘΣ

Torchwood was in chaos by the time Jack and the Doctor barrelled in, and they skidded to a halt. Bilis Manger was standing with his back to the damp wall, his arms wrapped tightly around Owen's neck and a sleek silver gun pressed to his forehead. He glared at the two by the door. "I'd advise against moving. Your friend might not appreciate it."

The Doctor's jaw tightened. "Why are you doing this?"

He laughed harshly. "Why do you think? There's much to be done, Doctor, and all you ever do is sit by and watch."

Jack's jaw dropped, and Rose's eyebrows flew up. "Okay, _what?_"

Bilis tightened his arms, and Owen choked. Rose edged closer to the Kryvonian blaster on Tosh's desk, her eyes glued to Owen's swiftly-reddening face. "You could change the world, you fool. You could tear the sky apart and watch all these petty fools' delusions come crashing down around them, and yet you do nothing but dash about through time and space, desperately throwing patches on a mortal wound. The universe is failing, Doctor. All systems tend towards chaos—you, of all people, should know that. Why not _revel_ in it?"

The Doctor's voice was quiet and heart-breakingly sad. "Is that really all you can see?" Bilis' eyes narrowed and the Doctor sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Yes, change is constant. But so is progress. I look at this planet, and there's so much they have yet to do, so much they have yet to be. Why would you want to _stop_ that? Why arrest all this momentum?"

Rose caught Ianto's eye and glanced to the side, and then flicked her eyes over to Gwen. They both nodded minutely and began to shift towards the outer corners of the room, away from the confrontation at the center.

Bilis jerked his arm again, and Owen gagged. "Oh, don't pretend this whole violent, petty existence is _good_. Open your eyes, Doctor, and look. Look at all the lies, the common cruelty, the apathy and the hate that fill every moment on this stinking rock. All the worthless people scurrying around, locked inside their own insignificant lives—why not give them the freedom that they deserve?"

He glanced towards Gwen as she edged closer to the entrance, and Rose spoke up. "So all that time you were goin' on about freedom, that's what you meant? Death?"

His nostrils flared. "There is no greater freedom than an end to this meaningless existence, something I think the Captain and your Doctor know very well."

Jack's eyes narrowed. "That's where you'd be wrong."

Rose finally managed to get a grip on the small, dark grey blaster, and as Jack took up Bilis' attention she caught Owen's eyes and flicked her eyes down. His eyes were wide, almost bulging, but he still attempted to glare at her. She glanced down at the blaster in her hands and raised her eyebrows significantly at him, and he gagged again as Bilis once again tightened his arm. Finally he closed his eyes, mouthing, "Yes." Rose focused on the timestream around them, feeling the ebb and flow of every possibility. In seven seconds she would have her chance—anything before and after that would only lead to Owen's painful death. Rose's lips tightened. She'd been a field leader at Torchwood for three years, and she hadn't lost a single person in that time, though there_ had_ been some close calls. She wasn't going to break that record now.

Owen snapped his eyes open and stared at her, his eyes wide and desperate. _And... now! _With a strength born of desperation, Owen ducked against Bilis' hold. It wasn't much, but it was enough to jerk him away from the gun that had been pressed so tightly to his forehead, and Rose felt time waver and condense around her as she whipped the blaster up and aimed. With one sizzling blast, the silver gun that Bilis had stolen was nothing more than a chunk of melted metal. He dropped it with a hiss, and Ianto, Jack, and Gwen had their guns out and aimed at him before he could even lower his hands fully. Owen jerked away from him again, scrabbling across the floor as he gasped for breath. Tosh met him halfway and pulled him up to rest on her, her breath whooshing out as he leaned on her.

Jack's eyes were blazing. "All your exits are cut off, Bilis. Now get your hands up, and we can do this the easy way."

Bilis looked up, his smile grim and a little mad. "Oh, why would we ever want to do that? And Captain—you're wrong." He held up Owen's key card and opened the door behind him in a flash, ducking through just as Jack, Ianto and Gwen opened fire.

The Doctor knocked Jack's gun down, glaring at him. "Stop it! What are you doing?"

Jack's jaw tightened. "My job. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a suspect to capture."

Gwen shook her head. "He's gone down to the cells, Jack, and Owen's card won't let him out the back way."

He nodded grimly at her. "Right. Tosh, get Owen to the infirmary and check for any bruising—trust me when I say collapsed vocal cords aren't fun to deal with. Gwen, Ianto, with me."

The Doctor folded his arms. "And us?"

Jack glanced irritably at him."If you can keep yourself from interfering, feel free. If not, then stay up here. Rosie?"

She looked at the Doctor and took his tightly clenched hand, gently rubbing the strained tendons until he wrapped his hand around hers. "I'm with him."

"Okay. We've got a fleeing suspect, unarmed but dangerous, with no way out but through us. Be careful, all of you. We've already got Owen to deal with, let's not make it more than him."

The trip down into the cells was silent but fast, as they followed Bilis' trail down further and further in the dank basement. Jack's eyes widened as he saw one last door hanging open. He looked back at the Doctor and Rose and tightened his grip on his gun. "That's the door to the cells—we're armed, but there's no telling who he set loose. Stay back."

The Doctor nodded grimly, holding tightly to Rose's hand while shifting through settings on his sonic screwdriver with the other. Rose, meanwhile, slipped her small blaster out of her pocket.

Jack nodded at Gwen and Ianto, who were standing behind him. "On the count of three, we go in. One... two... three!"

He charged in the door, his gun up and his eyes darting around. Almost as quickly, he swung back around and tried to push them out.

Rose frowned. "Jack?"

He looked up, his face pale. "We don't have to worry about Bilis anymore." His lips tightened. "Janet took care of him."

Rose looked down at the floor, where a spreading stain of crimson leaked out past the heavy steel door. She blanched, and Gwen clenched her jaw and re-holstered her gun.

Ianto sighed quietly and put his gun away, looking drained. "Suicide by Weevil. I have to say that's the first time I've seen that."

Jack grimaced. "Be glad." He looked around the door and swallowed. "Well, looks like your procedure worked, Doc. He is definitely mortal again. Or was."

The Doctor closed his eyes, his shoulders slumping, and Rose gripped his hand tightly again. _Don't you dare feel guilty for this, Doctor._

_It's my fault, Rose._

She spun to face him, pulling him aside as the Torchwood team edged into the cellblock to retrieve Bilis' mangled body. She glared up at him. "It was his choice, Doctor. He wanted this."

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, his eyes dark. "If I hadn't recalibrated him, he wouldn't have been able to do this."

"No—he'd have been able to manipulate the Rift into destroying everything he could."

"The man was half-mad, Rose. If we hadn't—"

She cut him off, her eyes blazing. "If we hadn't _what?_ If Gwyneth hadn't sealed the Rift that night? Doctor, if she hadn't, the world would be crawling with gaseous zombies."

_It's just one more mess I've left behind._

Rose's eyes narrowed. _What?_

He froze and stared at her. _You weren't supposed to hear that._

_Well, I did, and it's ridiculous. Saving the world has a cost sometimes, Doctor, but that doesn't mean it's not worth saving._

His jaw tightened, and he turned away from her. _Maybe I'm tired of that cost. _She felt a rush of almost painful longing and caught a flash of memory; watched herself fall, screaming, from a lever in a white room.

She stepped closer to him and cupped his cheek. "Hey. I'm right here, Doctor. Yeah, you lost me for a bit there—but I came back. I'm here, Doctor, and I'm not goin' to leave you, not ever again."

His eyes snapped down to hers. "You can't know that."

"Yes, I can. An' you can, too." She reached down and grasped his hands, pulling them up to rest against her chest. "Tell me about the bond, Doctor. I want to do this."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

ΘΣ

Rose stared into the mirror on her small vanity, her hands twisted together in her lap. They'd been in Cardiff for a week now, a week of training Torchwood (and _that _had gone over well, the alien and the Torchwood agent from a parallel world acting as consultants) and preparing for the bonding ceremony. Rose knew her part backwards and forwards now, as well as sideways and in the fourth dimension. There was a knock at their door, and Martha poked her head in. "Rose?"

"'Lo, Martha!" She managed a hasty smile and stood, brushing out the wrinkles of the long red robe the Doctor had somewhat shyly pointed her towards. It was a simple design, long-sleeved and close-fitting with a wide, off the shoulder neckline. The deep crimson of it set off her lipstick and the elegant gold trim edging the collar and the sleeves echoed her hair, which had been pinned up by her temples and left to fall down to her shoulders in soft waves. Rose liked the dress—rather a lot, in fact—but seeing herself wearing it still sent shivers down her spine. She was doing this. This wasn't some someday plan, they were bonding themselves to each other today, and she'd never be just Rose Tyler again—her life would be woven with the Doctor's, indelibly interconnected.

Suddenly, she snorted at herself. Who was she kidding? Bond or no bond, she had already chosen to join her life to his. Martha's lips twitched. "Wedding jitters?"

Rose smiled self-depracatingly at her. "Somethin' like that, yeah."

Martha wrapped her in a hug suddenly, and Rose closed her eyes as she squeezed her tight. "You two'll be okay, you know."

"I know." Rose pressed a hand to her stomach and grimaced. She'd been so nervous this morning she hadn't eaten breakfast, and her stomach was reminding her off that now with a vengeance. "Just a bit nervous, is all. I never really thought we'd get here."

"Well, I'm glad you did." Martha studied her for a moment. "It's amazing, the change in him. When I first met him, he was so empty. But now it's like he's full-up on joy. I've never seen anything like it."

Rose blushed and looked down, and Martha reached out and squeezed her hand. "I'm so happy for both of you, really. Now I'd better go before Mickey gets lost looking for me."

She couldn't hold back a delighted giggle. "Blimey, the TARDIS would _so_ do that to 'im." She glanced in the mirror and sighed, flicking her hair off her shoulders. "C'mon, I'll go with you. It's not like I have anything else to do right now."

Martha raised her eyebrows. "But won't the Doctor see you?"

"Nah, he's off preparing the room somewhere—I just hope he remembered to leave directions, or else all our guests'll get lost."

Martha snickered as she and Rose left the room. "So who's coming, anyway?"

"Oh, not that many people—there's you an' Mickey, of course, and Torchwood Cardiff—you'll like 'em, really, even if they can be a bit daft sometimes. Sarah Jane's coming, too—she used to travel with the Doctor, and she's absolutely brilliant. Then there's Brigadier Lethbridge-something—I've never met him, but the Doctor keeps talking about how brilliant he is. It's nice to see him so happy."

Martha had paused, her eyes wide. "Wait, are you talking about Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart?"

Rose snapped her fingers. "That's it! I always forget his whole name—it's so bloody long."

"Rose, the man's a living legend! Everybody at UNIT's in complete awe of him."

The blonde stopped and narrowed her eyes. "Wait, how d'you know what's going on at UNIT?"

Martha looked down and blushed, but she couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. "Oh, you know... just workplace gossip, I guess." She looked up, and her eyes were sparkling. "I guess word got around that I'd travelled with the Doctor, so they recruited me about a month ago. Gave me a bit of a fast-track, too—you're looking at the newly-minted Dr. Martha Jones."

Rose threw her arms around Martha with a delighted laugh. "Congratulations! That's brilliant, Martha!"

She squeezed back and let go, grinning. "I thought so, yeah. And now Mickey won't be able to tease me about being so far behind him, which is even _more_ brilliant."

"Oi, I don't do that _that_ much!" Rose spun at Mickey's voice, and he laughed and picked her up, her skirts swirling around her legs as he spun her. "Blimey, you look gorgeous!"

Rose flushed almost as red as her dress as he set her down, and she straightened it nervously. "D'you think?"

"Cross my heart, babe." He wrapped his arm around Martha's waist and looked around. "So where's the Doctor, anyway? Captain Cheesecake wouldn't say, and the TARDIS just kept leadin' me to the trampoline room."

Rose laughed. "He's off preparin' the room for the ceremony. So Jack's here, already? He was sayin' he might be a bit late."

"The whole team's here, Rose." The lights in their corridor flickered and lowered, and the next one over lit up.

Rose took a deep breath. "Looks like it's time."

ΘΣ

They stopped in front of a large wooden door, the heavy planks of cherry darkened and roughened with the ages. Rose swallowed and nodded at Martha and Mickey. "Right, you two go on in. I've got to wait for a bit."

Martha smiled at her and entered, and Mickey paused as the door swung shut behind her. "Jackie'd be so happy for you, Rose."

She closed her eyes, ignoring the moisture that gathered against her eyelashes. "Thanks, Mickey." He nodded, pressing his lips together, and followed Martha through.

And then there was stillness. Rose wished for a sudden, desperate moment that she could feel the Doctor in her head, his comforting, overwhelming presence wrapped around her to drive all her fears away. But no—the bond had to be formed without any distractions or substitutions, and so they had both had to retreat to their own minds. She wouldn't feel his mental presence around hers again until the ceremony, and then they'd never be alone again. She felt the gentle nudge of the TARDIS in her mind, and she swallowed and smoothed her dress before opening the door.

The room behind it was unlike any Rose had ever seen on the TARDIS. Oh, she knew the TARDIS was old—the Doctor had mentioned that She was about to be retired when he'd run off with Her, and he really had no idea how old She actually was—but there was little around to suggest it. This room, though—Rose felt the age of it press against her skin, the weight of centuries stilling the air. The stone walls were covered in ivy, and elegantly carved pillars were set around the room at regular intervals. There was a short stone border around the center of the floor, which was covered in thick golden grass. At the very middle stood a slender tree with dark grey bark and shining silver leaves that chimed as they shifted.

Jack was standing under the tree, still in his familiar trousers and greatcoat. The rest of the guests were seated in a circle around them. Sarah Jane sat next to a distinguished military man with silver-white hair, Mickey and Martha on her other side. Gwen, Ianto, Tosh, and Owen completely the circle, and Rose had to smile at Gwen's small thumbs-up.

The Doctor had entered from a door opposite hers and they met in the center, surrounded by friends and allies that had seen them through pain, regeneration, and separation. The Doctor was dressed in a long robe of the same crimson fabric as hers, gold trim running up the center to his high collar.

A wide grin spilt Jack's face as he looked at them, but Rose could only focus on the Doctor. He looked happier than she'd ever seen him before, his eyes shining with the smile that was hidden from his mouth. She fisted her hands in her long skirt, resisting the urge to reach out for his.

Jack cleared his throat and spoke. "We stand witness here to one moment that will become an eternity, in the joining of these two souls. Never again will they travel alone, no matter where their paths lie. Your roads have been long, and your trials many, but now you stand at a crossroads. If you take this step, your journey will be one." He turned to Rose. "Rose, do you consent to share yourself with the Doctor, your sorrows and your joys, your weaknesses and your strengths, your pain and your love, wherever your path may lead?"

"I do." Rose felt the timelines begin to shift around them as Jack reached out and placed her right hand in the Doctor's, their arms crossed between them. He turned to the Doctor then and spoke again.

"Doctor, do you consent to share yourself with Rose, your sorrows and your joys, your weaknesses and your strengths, your pain and your love, wherever your path may lead?"

He cleared his throat and spoke, his eyes warm and heart-breakingly sincere. "I do." Jack placed the Doctor's left hand in Rose's, completing the circuit between them, and she gasped as she felt the bond spring to life between them. A flood of memories crashed over her; flickering images of a dark-haired, elfin girl, glittering cities encased in unimaginably huge domes, a blonde with a ponytail swinging a baseball bat, burning planets and freezing rage and everywhere, in every memory, the Doctor's presence swirling around her like a hurricane. Rose closed her eyes and concentrated on him, letting the deluge of memories wash over her until he was all that was left, his mind wrapped around hers as his history and hers flashed together around them. She couldn't help the upwards twitch of her lips. _The eye of the Storm._

His amusement warmed her like sunlight. _Oi, and you say I'm the one with the bad puns._

_Well, I had to catch up to you sometime, didn't I?_

His response was far more sincere than she'd expected. _That you did._ Rose dimly heard Jack announcing that they would seal their bond with a kiss, and they leaned forward over their clasped hands, their lips meeting softly. She felt the tremor of the timelines around them, felt them shift and firm as their minds merged together. She felt his love for her, the overwhelming gratitude and disbelief he felt for their bond, his ever-present fear that he'd lose her, and she instinctively reached out to calm him. Her fierce joy blazed through him, and underneath that her anxiety and self-doubt, and his mind wrapped around her, soothing her.

Slowly, carefully, the bond calmed, fading from an overwhelming flood to a vibrant spark that blazed in both their minds. Rose blinked her eyes open slowly as the Doctor gentled the kiss, releasing her mouth with one last press of his lips. She looked up at him, biting her lip through her grin, and gave him one last vow as they turned to their applauding guests.

_Forever._

He smiled.

ΘΣ

FINIS

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**A/N: So, another one done, and another question: Stolen Plot sequel, or Phoenix and the Wolf/Tangled Web sequel? I've got ideas for where both of them could go, but I can't decide which to focus on. And t****hanks _so_ so much for reading and reviewing! I love you guys.**


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